The Not So Average Walk
by Yana04
Summary: After a bad day at school Hinata decides to take the long way home. On her walk she discovers something she thought she would never see. Much less hear. Sasuhina (slightly).


A/N: Hi there! So this is my first story here so any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated :) This story can be left as a one-shot but depending on the feedback I might make it a two-shot, but ideas for the continuation of this would be awesome. Enjoy!

Hinata loved to walk. It was a simple fact. Her few, but close friends, were well aware of this. But this didn't stop some of her friends from thinking she was crazy for willingly walking four miles to and from school five days a week. Sometimes Kiba and Shino walked the first half with her because they were headed in the same direction, but the other half she walked on her own. And when she walked alone, she _always_ took the long way home. Which meant she would go through a trial that would actually circle her home. This tended to be her favorite part of the day, the trail was through a beautiful forest-like scenery, with slopes, and other mini trails scattered about. Occasionally when she had a bad day she would take one the mini-trails just to kill even more time.

Today was one of those bad days. She had failed a test that she had thought she had aced, thus leading her to be in a bad mood, and which actually led to a fight with Shino. With Shino! Of all people. Hinata wasn't even sure if what had occurred between the two was a fight. It started with her being zoned out in her depression and consequently not hearing Shino speak, he grunted, she came back to reality, tried to rekindle the conversation, but he apparently was too upset, and just walked away. She didn't even see him when school was over. Kiba and she had waited for him for a while but he never showed.

So here she was, standing on the trail, determining which mini-trail to take. Hinata had six options. And she couldn't decide. So Hinata decided to do what she always did when stuck in similar situations. She walked to what she considered to be the center of the trails, held out her right arm, index finger pointing at nothing in particular, closed her eyes, and spun. Hinata spun and spun, a smile forming on her face and a giggle escaping. She felt like a child. Finally when she started to feel dizzy she came to a slow stop. Hinata slowly opened her eyes, her finger was directly pointing to the third trail on her left. That was her trail for today.

Despite having walked these trails for the past four years of her high school life she hadn't gone down this particular trail. Partially because the amount of trees seemed to thicken there, less of the sun's light reached the ground, and the trail was less worn out. In short, it kind of creeped her out. But today, she decided she was going to have an adventure. Plus, if she got too scared, she could always turn back.

So she started her adventure. Hinata kept a slow even walk, always keeping an eye out. It was relaxing despite her initial concern. After half an hour of walking she was completely relaxed and occasionally skipping. Hinata felt much better now. She had cleared her mind of concerns, she would speak to her teacher about a makeup test (Kurenai Sensai seemed to take a liking to her anyways) and she would apologize to Shino by taking him and Kiba to the temporary bug exhibit that was being held at a nearby museum. Plus, as a reward to herself for having found a solution to her current predicaments she would watch Moulin Rouge when she arrived home. If there was anything else she loved more than walking, it was musicals. Didn't really matter if it was a Disney movie, a musical being held in school, or a musical film she just loved musicals. And Moulin Rouge just happened to be one of her favorites. It was a bit of a depressing movie, yes, but it was so good!

Hinata picked up her pace, hoping that the trail would end soon. Suddenly, she froze. She thought she heard a whistle. With her big eyes wide open she looked around, trying to see if she could see anyone through the trees but nothing. She was about to blame the noise on her overly active imagination when she heard a hum come from her right. Hinata stood absolutely still, unsure on what to do. She doubted that whoever was there knew she was there but she didn't like the idea of being in a forest alone with someone. One too many episode of Law & Order had taught her better. Hinata turned to walk away from the noise when she heard a voice. The voice was singing.

"…You'd notice him.

And even without cluckin' like a hen…"

Hinata, despite instinct telling her to get away, took a couple of steps closer to the voice. This person, a man from what she could tell, had a wonderful voice.

"Everyone gets noticed now and then

Unless of course that person it should be

Invisible, inconsequential…Meeee!"

As Hinata neared the voice, she noticed that there was a steep slope. As her eyes followed the slope she noticed a figure on the clearing at the end of the slope. It was a small clearing but there was enough space between the trees to let the sun's light to hit the figure. He had his back to her and he was wearing a navy hoodie and jeans. His backpack was thrown off to the side. He'd probably been there a while already.

Hinata leaned against a tree, hoping he wouldn't see her. She absolutely adored this song. It was Mister Cellophane from the musical Chicago, a classic. And though he had a deeper voice than the character Amos, it was richer and absolutely…beautiful.

"Cellophane, Mister Cellophane

Should've been my name, Mister Cellophane

Cause you can look right through me,

Walk right by me,

And never know I'm there"

The man in the clearing was actually semi-dancing to the song. The man turned, raising what appeared to be iPod near his mouth, as if it were a microphone. Hinata had to cover her mouth to hold back the gasp.

"I tell ya'

Cellophane, Mister Cellophane

Should've been my name, Mister Cellophane,

Cause you can look right through me,

Walk right by me,

And never know I'm there"

That couldn't be him. But it was. It was the Uchiha Sasuke. The stoic, aloof cool guy. The heartthrob. Here he was in a random clearing singing and dancing (semi-dancing) to a song from a musical. Hinata was pretty sure hell had frozen over. Hinata was still marveling that it was in fact Sasuke before her when his booming voice brought her back to reality. Which was still oddly him singing.

"I tell ya!

Cellophane, Mister Cellophane!

Should've been my name, Mister Cellophane!

Cause you can look right through me,

Walk right by me,

And never know I'm there

Never!

Even!

Knoooooooooow…!"

Hinata wasn't sure if to curse Kami for making Sasuke even more perfect than what everyone already thought he was or thank Kami for allowing her to witness such a wonder moment.

"I'm there…"

Sasuke's body then flopped to the ground, his eyes closed and facing towards the sky. Hinata stared wide eyed at him form for a moment, unsure on what to do. Then he lifted a hand to remove the strands of hair that poked his face. Hinata heard him give a sigh. Sasuke raised his iPod, poking at the screen every now and then.

"No…no…mm, maybe." Hinata heard his low voice. He continued like this for a few minutes until he stood. Hinata almost couldn't believe her eyes once again. She was sure she had seen a micro-smile. That was the biggest smile she had ever seen him give.

Sasuke started just as he had earlier; whistling the tune, then humming, and then singing. Hinata silently giggled. Sasuke was singing to "We Both Reached for the Gun" from the same musical. Sasuke only sang the Billy Flynn parts but she still couldn't believe how into it he got. Sasuke even sang the parts where Billy Flynn was speaking as Roxie.

They both stayed there, unknowingly to Sasuke, as he sang another song from Chicago, "All I Care About is Love" and he even did the dance "Tap Dancing Around the Witness". Well kind of did the dance, he wasn't a very great dancer, much to Hinata's relief. Hinata was absolutely fascinated with him. Hinata would sometimes see Sasuke wandering around school with Naruto and the gang but she saw nothing to swoon about. He was too serious at school and purposely rude to many of the girls at school, though she couldn't completely blame him for that. Actually, once during a group outing he had actually bought her a soda, but that was only because the movie was about to start since they had arrived late, thanks to Naruto, and he was not willing to wait in line while the cashier calmly and patiently handed each of the group's members their change. So he had paid for everyone's snacks and drinks. Hinata guessed he could be nice if he wanted to, but up until now he was almost no one in her eyes. Just as she assumed she was in his eyes.

Hinata was sitting against a tree, facing the opposite direction of where Sasuke was. He was choosing another song.

"Hello?" Hinata froze. Had she been caught? When had he seen her? "I stayed after school for some tutoring." Hinata let out a sigh of relief. Sasuke was just talking on the phone. "Fine, I'm on my way, Itachi."

_Shoot_. Hinata silently picked herself up. She was sure that Sasuke would seriously consider assassinating her if he found her eavesdropping on him. Hinata peeked around the trees. Sasuke had slung on his backpack and was fixing his ear buds. He was humming. And Hinata could only assume he had music playing. Now was her chance to escape.

Hinata moved as fast as she could, trying to make as little noise as possible. Once she felt she was at a comfortable distance away from the Uchiha she slowed her pace. She only walked for about 15 more minutes when she made it to the end of the trail. Huh. She was only two blocks away from her home. Hinata had found a new shortcut. And a new excuse to use that trail again.


End file.
